Lots of cool history you may not know
The 1970's were heady days for the Democratic Party in DuPage County.
Democrats held four seats on the DuPage County Board as well as an occasional township office in the northeast corner of the county. And in 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter spent the night in DuPage, at the home of Elmhurst friend, Rev James Wall.
Post- Watergate three Democrats joined a fourth, Donald Carroll, who had been elected in 1972 (and who defected to the dark side in Addison as you can read below). These three, all women, will be at the Gala this year to celebrate our 40 year trajectory of hope and leadership and we hope you will come to meet these the DuPage County Board class of 1974!
These intrepid souls are Jane Spirgel (who served for 12 years and ran for Secretary of State!), Elaine Libovicz who served one term but has been constantly active in Elmhurst causes and government ever since and Mary Eleanor Wall who has been a guiding force behind a myriad of community projects: services for seniors, charities, land-use planning and women's issues.
After Jane Spirgel left the County Board in 1986, it would be 14 long years before another Democrat, Linda Bourke Hilbert was elected but just for two years. During that time, our DuPage pioneers, people like Tinker Harvey, Jim Walsh, Bob Jeffers, Don and Helen Westlake and many others kept the organization afloat until the electoral map changed. New, younger residents infiltrated Republican DuPage, we were blessed with an exciting hometown presidential primary and then, candidate, Barack Obama. Democrats were really WAKING UP with new energy following some heartbreakingly close local elections in 2006.
HOPE HAD BEEN KEPT SMOLDERING SINCE 1974 AND, IN 2008, THE FIRE SPARKED AND BEGAN BURNING MORE BRIGHTLY THAN EVER! FORTY YEARS LATER, WE CAN ALL BE PROUD OF BOTH OUR LEGACY AND OUR PERSISTENCE.
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